Davies, Russell T
About the Author:
Russell T. Davies has worked extensively as a script writer, becoming the lead writer and showrunner for the first four series of the revived Doctor Who.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(1 book)
Doctor Who: Rose
The novelisation of Davies' own script of the first episode of the revived series of Doctor Who, featuring the first appearance of the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Ecclestone). Shop worker Rose Tyler's life is changed forever when she encounters not only murderous shop window dummies but also a mysterious and charismatic man with a strange blue box.
When Davies revived the long-defunct but beloved TV series a lot was riding on the very first episode. It had to catch the imagination of generations who had never seen the Doctor in action before whilst also honouring the legacy of the world's longest-running series. The writer really knocked it out of the park with 'Rose' and his novelisation recaptures the brilliance of the episode perfectly. Rose is an ordinary modern girl, whose poor inner-city life makes a perfect cypher for us to discover the wonders (and terrors) of the Doctor's world. And the Doctor himself is the perfect balance of enigmatic and charismatic, being by turns childlike and ruthless, rude and charming. To firmly link this story to his previous adventures, Davies also brings back the Autons who, whilst they seem a little silly, kick off a gratifying sense of nostalgia for the bygone era of Jon Pertwee.
What Davies does with this novelisation is to expand on his original script, giving us background information on characters who were incidental in the original episode or, as in the case of the band Bad Wolf, weren't originally featured at all. The author also manages to make the story a bit more scary and violent than he could've got away with in the televised version.
The passage of thirteen years since the episode aired means that Davies can also now retroactively link this story with later ones, including references to the post-Ecclestone incarnations of the Doctor (including the currently yet-to-debut Thirteenth). The best instance of this is where Rose remembers the oddly compelling drunk who promised her a good year on New Year's Eve; a reference to the Tenth Doctor's final tour of previous companions before his regeneration.
4 out of 5
Collaborations & Anthologies:
Doctor Who: Adventures In Lockdown (here)
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Doctor Who (here)